The vicissitudes of the war have made me the protector of various young girls, although this only causes me work and trouble and – unfortunately – offers me no "advantages" whatsoever. There is a young Armenian woman among them from a very good family in Ersurum, Miss Anna Chilingirian, who, during the deportation of the Armenians, in other words before my time, had been entrusted to the protection of the Consulate. The father was deported to Vilayet Aleppo and is sitting in Serudj. When Erzurmwas recently lost, Mahmud Kjamil Pasha – God rest his soul! – forced us to take all of the Armenians under the protection of the Consulate with us. After having sent them off at last as far as Sivas, I am now being bombarded by telegrams that Miss Ch. would like to make use of a good opportunity (a German doctor who has become ill is going back to Germany) to travel to Cospoli and from there to Germany. I have not been able to find out exactly what she wishes to do in Germany, apparently "educate herself further", as Erzurmdid not offer enough possibilities to quench her thirst for knowledge. Accordingly, she would have to look for a higher-class guest-house or something similar. Now, her French is quite good, but she does not speak a word of German. But the real snag lies elsewhere. Before the deportation of the Armenians, the Ch. family was very prosperous, almost rich, but the gods only know what their financial situation will look like after the war; anyway, at present she has almost nothing. Thus, someone would have to take over the cost of her stay in Germany, if Miss Ch. really wants to go there. I thought of palming the young lady – she really is a young lady, a bit à la Erzéroum, but at least a well-mannered young girl – off on some religious organisation in Germany, of which there are several, whose speciality is saving the Armenians. But I only know the address of one of these organisations, the "German Charity-Organisation" in Frankfurt am Main, Fürstenbergerstr. 151, whose Director Schuchardt is supposedly in Cospoli at the moment. My request to you is that you recommend Miss Ch. to Mr. Schuchardt and help her in other ways, should this become necessary, such as in obtaining a passport, and perhaps give her some good advice, if you have any. Perhaps you could send for Miss Ch. (she must be in Cospoli already when you receive this letter and is residing with the mother of my secretary, Werth) and discuss with her what she actually wishes to do in Germany. This young lady is not pretty, but has the curious talent of awakening the entire world's interest in her. You would be doing a good deed if you would look after her a little bit. In the meantime, I will write to several of my relatives in Germany; perhaps they know something. Unfortunately, my mother is so ill that I cannot turn to her for assistance.
I am writing this letter to you in the stirrups, so to speak, because tomorrow morning I am travelling, i.e. I am riding to Samsun. If the weather is good, although it does not look promising, the ride can be quite pleasant. I am riding via Karasund and then along the coast. I am adding a few remarks here in telegram style that may interest you:
Vehib Pasha makes a very good impression on all of us. Despite this, his task will be very difficult; the old army is so bad, discouraged, scruffy, etc., and, in addition, the Russians have the greater strength.
It does not look good along the coast. Trebizond will probably be lost. Ilunger's regiment is doing what it can, but has already suffered heavy losses. I am sorry about the lovely town of Trebizond, my secret love in this awful country. By the way, the entire Vilayet Trebizond is quite beautiful, worth a visit.
My task here (liaison with the Caucasians) is disliked by most circles here, and thus I must constantly work keeping the slogan of "Tandem!" in mind, which makes my work attractive, but by no means enjoyable. At the moment my esteemed government has left me without any money! After the people in Berlin had granted me 5 million for the first 6 months at that time (on paper, of course), of which I have hardly received even one until now, i.e. in 10 months, the supply has now ceased completely. Well, in the end we will simply go bankrupt!
Enver Pasha is expected here in the near future, and as I must go to Samsun I will hardly see him and his German escort. The Minister of War is exceptionally unpopular in the local army. This opinion always comes through, even to foreigners like myself. The reason for this seems to be the position he took during the campaign last winter (single-handedly shooting officers, etc.).
You will hardly be surprised to hear that they wish us Germans in hell, particularly in the Committee's circles. The schoolteacher is rarely popular. On the other hand, the ordinary people admire us and do everything in their power to be of use to us. The "salams" to a German officer goes down to the ground.
This Anatolia is a sea of mountains; a few fertile, but small plains are scattered in-between. The mountains are bare and hold few minerals (at least it would appear so). There is too much water everywhere. The population is extremely low and, due to the deportation of the Armenians, has been decreased even more. In 100 years of arduous work and after investing several 100 billions, Anatolia could be made into a large Tyrol. I never heard that Tyrol is a rich province.
This objective could only be achieved by a tyranny, i.e. by a government that deliberately does the population an injustice. For example, it is the people's holy right here that every blockhead can chop down every tree he comes across. This would have to be stopped by force if the mountains were to be reforested.
The Armenian massacres of last year are to 99 % lies; they result from the tremendous cowardice of these people and the Orientals' incredible tendency to exaggerate. Of course, a great number of them were killed and even more died while travelling, but there were only very few large massacres.
The Armenian farmers who were chased off their land will now, of necessity, become shopkeepers. Turkey will have to import the Russian "rayon" if it wishes to protect its people from being bled white by these shopkeepers.
Please recommend me warmly to the Baroness, should she remember me, and I send you my most heartfelt greetings as well.
Respectfully yours,
[From the Consulate General in Constantinople to Mordtmann, 21 June]
Enclosed please find the files concerning Anna Chellinghian. It was not possible to have her accepted by an American college. At my instance, Miss Werth then had the girl sent to the responsible Armenian Patriarch, where she is now staying. The Werth family, who wishes to travel to the country, could no longer keep the young Armenian girl with them.
Respectfully yours, Fabricius
This is the first opportunity I have had to reply to your friendly letter from Ersindjan dated 16 April.
Dr. Strube and Miss Chilinghirian arrived here at the end of April without being molested along the way by the Turkish authorities. After a few weeks Dr. Strube then left for Germany, while the lady accompanying him was first able to stay with Miss Werth. Based on the present situation, it was impossible to obtain a passport for her to Germany; in addition, the local American girls' boarding school, where we had hoped to place her, refused to accept her. Since the Werth family could also no longer let her stay with them, she was finally taken to the Armenian Patriarch, where she should be safe for the time being. This means that the steps you suggested we take with the German Christian Charity-Organisation and similar organisations have become superfluous. I greatly regret that we were unable to do more for your protégée. At any rate, she is much better off than the many thousands of her fellow sufferers, who have lost everything – one cannot even add "except their honour".
The rest of your letter interested me greatly and I have also informed the Ambassador of this; I may send an extra response to individual details.
With very best wishes, from my wife as well,